CONGRESS TO SHOOT BACK IN TRADE WAR

Ronald E. Yates, Chicago TribuneCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Japan and other Asian nations that refuse to open their markets to American goods can expect retaliatory legislation from the new Democratic-controlled Congress, Rep. Daniel Rostenkowski (D., Ill.) warned Thursday.

''We are not here to demand; we are just delivering a message,''

Rostenkowski, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, told a Tokyo press conference. ''The Japanese need to be aware of the seriousness of the situation. Japan has not done enough to open its markets to American goods, and it should understand that the U.S. Congress will retaliate against these unfair market barriers and practices.''

Rostenkowski is leading a delegation of 13 congressmen on a one-week tour of four nations in an effort to convince the governments of Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand to dismantle barriers to American products.

The United States is expected to run a trade deficit of $135 billion this year, $75 billion of it with Japan. It`s a situation that has become intolerable and that must change, delegation members told government officials.

However, after spending several hours Thursday in separate meetings with Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone; Hajime Tamura, head of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry; Kiichi Miyazawa, the finance minister; and Tadashi Kuranari, the foreign minister, the panel did not appear optimistic that the Japanese were getting the message.

''Prime Minister Nakasone understands the problem and realizes that things must change, but it doesn`t seem like those who work for him are willing to cooperate,'' said Rep. Martin Russo (D., Ill.). ''Tamura simply filibustered us, and we couldn`t get a word in edgewise. He didn`t want to hear what we came here to say.''

Others seemed equally piqued with the apparent lack of progress in bringing American goods into Japan.

''To us the message we are bringing to the Japanese is quite simple, but to the Japanese it is apparently very complex,'' said Rep. William Frenzel

(R., Minn.). ''I myself have delivered the message nine times over the last dozen years. And it`s quite simple: We don`t want to fight about trade. We want to negotiate an orderly, relatively open kind of open market in which all the countries of the world prosper.

''A more specific message to Japan is that if Japan wants to sell, then Japan must buy. But Japan has not accepted that message.''

Frenzel said he and other delegation members recognize some positive developments regarding trade in Japan, including Nakasone`s ''Action Program'' designed to encourage greater imports, tax reforms designed to stimulate domestic demand and thus prepare Japan for a new era of low exports and the announced restructuring of the Japanese economy from one led by exports to one dependent upon domestic consumption.

''On the other hand, we still find that there are American products that are competitive in all countries of the world except Japan,'' Frenzel said.

''What Congress does will depend on what those American firms tell us about access to this market. Are they getting orders? Will trade figures reflect significant improvement?''

Rep. John Duncan (R., Tenn.) said some Japanese may still believe they can hide behind antiprotectionist Republicans, but warned that because of the Democratic victory in the Senate that was no longer an option.

''Trade has become a nonpartisan issue in Congress,'' Duncan said. ''Many of us who supported President Reagan last year in his opposition to protectionist legislation no longer feel that way. I personally am fed up with the lack of progress.

''For example, it`s very difficult for us to explain at home why the Japanese construction industry can come into the United States and get $5 billion in construction contracts while Americans can`t even get $100 in jobs in Japan. As a result of such inequities I think the Japanese people will see some protectionist action whether we like it or not.''

The delegation is scheduled to deliver the same message to South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan on Friday, before going on to Hong Kong and Thailand. ''The time has come for these countries to do something,'' Rostenkowski said. ''We will no longer accept the old vertical head shake that says `yes, yes` and then sit around while nothing is done.

''I really hope these governments will understand that. Because if they don`t, there will be serious problems between us.''